28 June 2011 Last updated at 02:40

In pictures: Hungarian Photography in the 20th Century

A new exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts explores how photographers from pre-war Hungary helped to shape the future of the medium. Photographers such as Robert Capa, Andre Kertesz and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy left their homeland and made their names in Europe and the US, while others remained in Hungary looking to push the boundaries of photographic communication.

Martin Munkacsi's Four Boys at Lake Tanganyika is the photograph always cited by the master of the decisive moment, Henri Cartier-Bresson, as the one photograph that inspired him to pick up the camera.

Munkacsi went on to work at Harper's Bazaar in the US, where he revolutionised fashion photography by taking his models out of the studio.

Andre Kertesz moved to Paris in 1925, where he brought a poetic vision to his pictures of life in the city.

Rudolf Balogh, Shepherd with his Dogs, Hortobagy, c. 1930. Hungarian Museum of Photography. © Hungarian Museum of Photography

Rudolf Balogh was one of those who remained in Hungary where he took this picture of a shepherd with his dogs in 1930, one of 200 on show in the exhibition.

Karoly Escher worked for the Budapest newspaper Pesti Naplo and his work offers a revealing insight into life in Hungary during a time of economic and political upheaval.

Erno Vadas's picture of a procession in Budapest 1934 shows the way in which photographers began to explore new angles and graphic composition, moving away from the pictorial approach.

Laszlo Fejes, Wedding, Budapest, 1965. Hungarian Museum of Photography. © Hungarian Museum of Photography

The exhibition has been curated by Colin Ford, founding director of the National Media Museum, with Peter Baki, director of the Hungarian National Museum of Photography, together with Sarah Lea of the Royal Academy of Arts. It can be seen at the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 30 June to 2 October.

In Pictures

In pictures: Hungarian Photography in the 20th Century

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